At least $20,000 lost to fake UOB website: Police

Multiple victims have reported being cheated into providing personal information and credit card details to a fake United Overseas Bank (UOB) website, said the police in a press release on Tuesday (16 January).

At least seven such reports have been made in the month of January alone, with the total amount scammed from the victims amounting to at least $20,000, said the police.

The highest amount scammed in a single case was around $5,400.

In these cases, the victims would receive an SMS purportedly sent by the bank about a new account notification, in which they were asked to click on a Web link – to uob-mob.com – provided in the text message.

Upon doing so, the victims would be directed to a phishing website resembling that of the actual bank’s, where they were asked to enter their personal information, such as their credit card number, date of expiry and Card Verification Value number, for verification purposes.

The scammers would then enter the information provided into the bank’s mobile UOB Mighty App, causing the victims to receive a One-Time Password (OTP) on their mobile phones.

The victims would then enter the OTP into the fake website. Subsequently, they would receive SMS notifications alerting them that foreign transactions – in currencies including euros and Romanian leu – had been made on their credit cards.

Responding to queries from Yahoo News Singapore, a UOB spokesman said the bank has stepped up monitoring of card transactions following a phishing attack targeting consumers via SMS.

Urging customers to stay vigilant, the spokesman said the bank does not send unsolicited SMS or emails asking customers to click on a link and to enter their personal or account details into a website.

The spokesman said, “If a customer does receive an unsolicited email or SMS which appears to be from UOB, or if they are in doubt, they should call us first before taking any further action. They should not click on any link provided as this is how an account can be phished.”

Police also advised members of the public not to share their personal information with others, as well as to call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg when in doubt.